


you're doing fine (trust in me)

by professortennant



Category: The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mildred is Stressed and Hecate Helps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 03:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14151000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professortennant/pseuds/professortennant
Summary: Mildred’s eyes opened blearily and she murmured a sleepy, “Mum?”The title startled Hecate, her heart’s secret dream come to life before her--a little girl in pigtails of her own waiting to be tucked in, begging for just a few more moments alone with her book.With a trembling hand, Hecate reached out to smooth a wayward curl of hair from Mildred’s plaits, tugging gently at the braid. “No, it’s Miss Hardbroom. And you are past curfew, Miss Hubble.”





	you're doing fine (trust in me)

Hecate sweeps down the dormitory hallways, severe voice calling for lights out and keen ears picking up the sounds of girls running for their beds, hushed voices hurriedly finishing up the night’s conversation.

All girls are account for--except one.

Peering into the last dormitory and seeing the empty bed, Hecate’s nostrils flare in annoyance and frustration flickers through her as she huffs out a tight, “ _Mildred Hubble.”_

Closing her eyes, she silently casts a Locator spell and realizes with a start that Mildred is in the library of all places. Another sigh and a flick of her wrist and Hecate disappears from the stone hallways and reappears in the library, a lone light in the far corner indicating exactly where Mildred Hubble has scampered off to.

Hecate mentally begins preparing her tirade ( _Out of bed at this hour! No respect for rules! But of course Mildred Hubble thinks herself the exception to the rules!)_ , but when she rounds the corner she finds Mildred slumped over an open tome, stacks of books scattered around her. 

Frowning, Hecate steps forward and notices that every textbook carries the same theme: potions.  _Potions for Beginners_  is stacked beneath  _Bubbling Brews_  and  _1001 Uses of Magical Herbs and Fungi._  

But smoothed out on the table, illuminated by the table lamp’s flickering glow, is Mildred’s potions essay--the very same one Hecate handed back to her in class this morning. Upon the essay, in Hecate’s tidy and sharp print are dozens of strikethroughs and correction and across the top are the words:  _Do better._

She remembers with a prick of guilt the way she had looked at Mildred when she handed it back, a sneer and a pointed, “I don’t know why I expected anything different of you, Mildred Hubble.”

Mildred had looked at her with such defeat, face ashen and disappointed as the essay shook in her hands, Hecate’s corrections stark against the paper. She had overheard Ethel Hallow snigger with her friends, a stage whisper echoing across the classroom, “ _Guess she really is the worst witch.”_

Hecate had snapped at Ethel to remain quiet in class, but did not press the issue further. Mildred had spent the rest of the classroom with her head down, uncharacteristically quiet. 

The parchment and ink beneath Mildred’s sleeping form now indicate that she was in the midst of rewriting the essay, incorporating Hecate’s remarks, and even pulling additional texts to research the commentary she had left for Mildred in the margins. 

Her heart gave a painful lurch in her chest at the thought of one of her students pushing themselves to exhaustion and doing additional work because she had insinuated failures and shortcomings. 

“Miss Hubble,” she called softly, not wanting to jostle the young girl awake. But still, Mildred slept on, her breath rustling the pages of the book she dozed upon. 

Hecate sighed and stepped forward, reaching out a hand to rest on her shoulder and shaking gently. “Mildred,” she said more firmly, hoping the girl would wake soon. She didn’t want to have to startle her awake.

Mildred’s eyes opened blearily and she murmured a sleepy, “Mum?”

The title startled Hecate, her heart’s secret dream come to life before her--a little girl in pigtails of her own waiting to be tucked in, begging for just a few more moments alone with her book. 

With a trembling hand, Hecate reached out to smooth a wayward curl of hair from Mildred’s plaits, tugging gently at the braid. “No, it’s Miss Hardbroom. And you are past curfew, Miss Hubble.”

Mildred shot up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and hastily shuffling papers and stacking books up, rambling, “I’m so sorry, Miss Hardbroom. I feel asleep. I just--” She stopped, looking up at Hecate, eyes wide, parchment and textbooks hanging from her arms before sagging back into her chair. “I just wanted to  _do better_.” 

Her words echoed back to her with a combination of such resignation and determination shake her and Hecate regrets the sharpness of her words and for marking papers in such a foul mood. How many times had Miss Broomhead demanded perfection from her? How many times was her own efforts not good enough? How many times had she simply wished someone had  _shown_  her what she was doing wrong; wanted someone to guide her?

Taking a deep breath and gathering her dress in her hand, she kneels down in front of Mildred, taking the books and articles from her hands and placing them aside on the table. 

“Miss Hardbroom?" Mildred’s voice is soft and questioning, eyes wide and fearful as if expecting punishment. “I’m sorry, I--”

But Hecate cuts her off. “No, Mildred. It is  _I_  who am sorry. I did not intend for you to spend your evening locked away in this library over a potions essay. I should not have told you to do better. In fact, I think you’re doing just fine, do you hear me? You’re one of the brightest, most  _creative_  students to grace Cackle’s halls in quite some time. And you are  _not_  the worst witch.”

Mildred’s eyes fill with tears and before either one of them could blink, Mildred threw herself into Hecate’s arms, hot tears falling and sagging against the Deputy Headmistress, crying in earnest and spluttering, “I’m trying, I’m  _trying.”_

Startled, Hecate simply lets Mildred cry against her, but at the sound of her pupil’s broken refrain, knowing that  _she_  contributed to any doubt or fear in a young witch, Hecate folds her arms around Mildred and returns the hug, hand rubbing gentle circles over Mildred’s back.

“You’re doing just fine, Mildred Hubble. Hush now, hush now.”

The words of comfort sound odd to her, unsure when the last time it was that she had used them. Perhaps with Pippa long, long ago but not for a long while since then. 

Mildred pulls away, wiping at her nose and sniffing, cheeks flaming red with embarrassment. “Sorry, Miss Hardbroom.”

A rare, soft smile graces Hecate’s features and she brushes off the apology, “No matter.” A wave of her hand clears away the textbooks, sending them zooming and flying through the air as they file themselves away back on the shelf. 

One book,  _Potions for Beginners,_ remains on the table next to Mildred’s essay and Hecate hands both the book and the essay to Mildred. “Start with Chapters 1 and 2 and, if you have any questions, come see me. I’ll be in my office all day tomorrow. Now,” she says, voice taking on a sterner quality as Mildred looks up at her with gratitude, clutching the book in her small hands, pleased at being given some guidance. “I think it’s time for bed, Mildred Hubble.”

“Thanks, Miss Hardbr--”

But Hecate vanishes her with a waggle of her fingers and another soft smile in the middle of her thanks, transferring the young witch and her books up a few stories and directly onto her bed. 

Hecate stares at the flickering lamp and the place where Mildred had been slumped over her potions textbook. She has much to think about tonight: the way her heart gave a painful lurch at  _Mum_ , the way Mildred had cried against her-- _because_  of her--and the way she needed to improve her teaching methods in her classroom. 

Another wave of her hand and Hecate herself vanishes and appears in her own quarters, bed check finally complete and all of her girls--even Mildred Hubble--are accounted for. 


End file.
